Fragrance

The first time I realised I loved the smell of fig was in a candle shop. I’ve never liked the texture of the fruit, and the closest I came to enjoying eating it was a fig roll biscuit. As for the scent, I can’t say I ever noticed the real thing.

But if you’ve ever smelled Jo Malone’s Wild Fig and Cassis candle (the source of my obsession), you’ll know what I’m talking about. Fruity, woody, and a little bit smoky, figs have a totally delicious and relaxing scent. Which is why I’ve hunted down a few figgy-fragranced finds (YES alliteration) for this latest wish list.

I hope you enjoy taking a look. If you love figgy fragrances as much as I do, do leave me a comment!

Under a Fig Tree Scented Candle – Rituals – £19.50

This smells heavenly, and at £19.50 it’s less than half the price of a Jo Malone candle. Which makes the indulgence seem much less indulgent, don’t you think?

Korres Fig Shower Gel – £8.00

I can’t stop sniffing this in Debenhams. It’s gorgeous. And there’s nothing like showering in your favourite scent!

Acqua di Parma Fico di Amalfi Eau de Toilette – £57.00 for 75ml

I cannot justify buying this. At all. But you can listen to me waxing lyrical about these beautiful fragrances here.

Diptyque Figuier Scented Oval – £32.00

Hang this in your “linen cupboard” (i.e. the top shelf of your wardrobe) or lob it in a drawer. Every time you put fresh linen on your bed, the fragrance will fill the air, as if a light breeze has just passed through the leaves of a nearby fig tree. Probably.

Seriously though, imagine having a scented linen cupboard. That’s a level of sophistication which I’m very excited to achieve one day.

Urban Apothecary 65g Fig Luxury Candle – £13.00 (or £26.00 for 130g)

I haven’t sniffed this one in person, so can’t attest to whether the smell is any good or not. But just look at the adorable glass packaging! So vintagey. So cute…

The White Company Fresh Fig Hand and Nail Cream – £14.00 for 250ml

One day I’ll be the sort of lady that has a matching set of White Company hand wash and hand cream on her bathroom sink. And it will smell of fig. #lifegoals

Pacifica Mediterranean Fig Roll on Perfume – £12.00 for 10ml

Had a whiff of this in Holland and Barrett the other day, and loved how warm and fruity it smelled. I’m so glad Pacifica has finally crossed the pond!

Jo Malone Wild Fig and Cassis Cologne – £42.00 for 30ml

I’d like to pretend I don’t spritz this all over myself whenever I pass a Jo Malone counter. But I totally do. Sorry.

BTW: All images are taken from the featured company websites and are not mine. Just, you know, clarifying.

If you love the smell of coconut as much as I do, you need to know about this stuff.

The new intensive conditioner is the latest development in a whole range of coconut-scented products by Faith in Nature. And phwoar, does it smell good.

In the interests of truth and honour, I should point out now that the conditioner is still in development, and I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek. It came in a little plastic sample pot (a bit like the ones you can get at the doctor’s, except not gross) and it made me very excited. Very excited indeed.

But worry not lads, my honest review of the product will not be compromised by excitement. I’m cool like that.

So, now that that’s been said, I’m going to tell you all about this deliciously coconutty conditioner. So that when it actually gets released, you’ll totally want some. I know I do.

This is a picture of the conditioner that’s already on the market, not the shiny new one. But you get the idea.

Scent?

Gorgeous. It feels like you’re showering in a pina colada, and I can’t help smelling the bottle whenever it catches my eye. Unfortunately, the scent didn’t linger in my hair – perhaps because I diluted it with heat protection when I dried it. Still, I can look forward to smelling it again in tomorrow’s shower…

Texture?

Surprisingly light for an intense conditioner, but reassuringly rich at the same time. My hair’s quite fine (although there’s lots of it) and it wasn’t weighed down at all.

Ingredients?

100% natural fragrances, and no parabens or SLS. Impressive!

Tangles?

I was pleasantly surprised. After rough-drying my hair with a towel, I got a brush through it without too much trouble (or pulling). Winner.

Grease?

Minimal. I was actually really gross last week and didn’t wash my hair for 4 days. (Please don’t judge me, I was doing D.I.Y. I still showered every day, I’m not an animal…)

Anyway, despite the 96 hours of unwashed hair, the greasy build up I was expecting never came – which was surprising for an intensive conditioner.

Good hair?

Absolutely. Swishy, light, and soft – I even had a little more volume than usual, which was very pleasing! My ends could be a bit more moisturised, but that’s probably got more to do with colouring choices than conditioner. All in all, I’ll definitely be picking this up when it gets released!

The bottles themselves make me think of crisp blue seas in Santorini – there’s just something about the colour of the glass – while fragrance names like Arancia di Capri, Fico di Amalfi and Bergamotto di Calabria make you picture breezy holidays on the Italian coast.

And that’s all before you even smell them.

I should say at this point that I haven’t actually bought a bottle – it’s £57 just for 50ml, and at least £80 for the bigger sizes. But hey, it’s cheaper than Tom Ford, guys. I’m going to hold on to that.

Anyway, despite not having purchased a bottle yet, I always make a point to mist myself with one of the fragrances if I’m passing Selfridges or House of Fraser. They make a gorgeous light daytime scent, so a spritz during my lunch hour has me smelling all Italian and sophisticated for the rest of the day.

Hello beauty chums. I can’t believe it’s been nearly two months since I last posted! As is traditional with blogging, I’ve been struck down with the dreaded “busy” excuse. Well, that and all the vowels on my laptop keyboard have died. And p. And w. And h. But, when you’re desperately catching up at work after the Christmas break, there’s no better time to have a nice good bath. That’s what I thought, anyway.

As my senses needed invigorating somewhat, I decided to go for a citrusy theme, so grabbed Lush’s Star Light Star Bright bath melt, which my sister bought me for Christmas (I think it’s limited edition?), and half of their massive Brightside bubble bar, which Mads got me as a thank you for letting her stay in my flat.

Thank you sissy.

Both of them smell very citrusy, which is always nice, and the scent gets even stronger once they come into contact with water.

I lobbed the bath melt in the bath first to give it a head start, and then crumbled the bubble bar under the tap to create some schweet-smelling foam. The bath water also turned bright orange. I wasn’t expecting this, but it was a nice treat. I’m afraid you can’t see it in the pictures because of all the bubbles!

I then put my laptop on the toilet seat, stuck on RuPaul’s Drag Race (if you haven’t seen this you MUST – it’s on Netflix) and lit my Mojito (lime and mint flavoured) candle, which my boyfriend got me for Christmas. Then finally, I kicked back into the water and settled into the zesty ambiance. I also sloshed water all over the floor in the process, but wouldn’t recommend that part.

Here are some of the pros and cons of the products:

Star Light Star Bright Bath Melt
Pros:
– Smells delicious. I love me some lime oil.
– Takes its time to actually melt – at least 5 minutes – so you feel like you’re getting a bit more for your money
– Very moisturising both in the water and when rubbed on the skin. Although I’d only advise this after all the glitter has worn off! It’s all thanks to the cocoa and Shea butter under the glitter.
Cons:
– Do not handle this and then handle your phone. It will get glittery.
– Do not handle this and then handle your laptop. It will get glittery.
– Do not handle this and then handle anything you don’t want to get glittery.
– The glitter does stick to your skin, but to a bearable extent. If you’re intending on going out after your bath, just avoid putting your face under the water. Sparkly face is not great. Unless you’re on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
– The glitter also sticks to your bath tub. I’d say this was the worst negative, as I don’t really want to be rinsing the bath out when I’m all chilled and cosy. But needs must.

To sum up: smells great, feels great, but #glitterproblems.

And here’s a look at the Brightside…

Pros:
– Smells deliciously citrusy – a mix of mandarin, bergamot, and tangerine oils. Mmm!
– You get a HUGE product for your money
– Half of it is more than enough to fill your tub with bubbles.
– Turns bath water orange. Nice surprise.

Cons:
– The bubbles disappeared long before my episode of RuPaul finished. I’d say within about 15-20 minutes.
– Contains Sodium Laureth Sulfate. This is an ingredient which makes things foamy and bubbly, but it can irritate sensitive skin when used regularly.

To sum up: good value, smells lovely, but disappointingly average bubble longevity.

Another day, another birthday bath product. As tonight is the 5th of November – a night of bonfires and fireworks in the UK – it seemed thematically appropriate to lob something in the bath that promised a spectacle, too. [Edit: tonight WAS the 5th of November. Scheduling fail!] So I chose Lush’s Northern Lights bath bomb, which my sister bought me for my birthday.

I struggled to put my finger on the scent. It’s got something floral or herbal there – I was reminded of liquorice – but there was also a charcoaly, ashy scent that felt very apt on bonfire night. According to the Lush website, it’s meant to smell like jasmine and ylang ylang, so I was sort of there with the floral thing!

Once I’d lobbed it in the bath, the jasmine and ylang ylang really came through. I only used half the product, but my whole bathroom (and some of the hallway) smelled like a spa afterwards. The scent also stayed on my skin, which was nice, and it felt lovely and soft afterwards.

The best thing about Northern Lights is definitely the light show. The purple outer soon starts fizzing when you throw it in the water, and after the water turns purple too, bright yellow swirls start to appear, and there are hints of bright blue in the centre of the bath bomb too. As with all Lush products, it’s impressive that Northern Lights has such bright colours as well as beautiful smells.

Have you tried any of Lush’s limited edition products? What did you reckon? Remember remember to leave a comment!